Object mounting assembly



Allg- 4, 1954 D. H. MOORE ETAL OBJECT MOUNTING ASSEMBLY Filed Aug. 1, 1963 INVENTORS et /{yszz/af/z Y 0 NEYs mmmIIIHHHHH United States PatentO 3,143,214 GBJECT MUNTING ASSEMBLY Dwight Herbert Moore, Belding, and Kenneth G. Aylsworth, Greenville, Mich., nssignors to Stahiin Brothers Fibre Works, Inc., Beiding, Mich., a corporation of Michigan Filed Aug. 1, 1963, Ser. No. 299,329 11 Claims. (Cl. 211-26) The present invention relates to mounting racks and more particularly relates to an elongated mounting rack or rail and -associated mounting clips designed to provide means whereby a plurality of objects such as electrical assemblies can be quickly and detachably mounted in row alignment along any surface to which the mounting rail More specifically, my invention is directed to a channel rail having upturned lips along the longitudinal edges thereof which serve to maintain any mounting fixtures such as electrical relays and the like in proper position on the rail and a plurality of associated mounting clips which can be positively connected to the r-ail at any point along its length and which serve to detachably connect the mounted objects to the rail by the resiliency of the clips themselves.

It is therefore a principal object of this invention to provide a means whereby a plurality of objects such as electrical assemblies can be quickly and detachably mounted in row alignment along any surface to which the mounting rail is aflixed.

f" 3,143,214 ce Patented Aug. 4, 1964 longitudinal edges so that faster and more even cooling I of the plastic can be eifected in the formation of the rails.

Another object of the invention resides in the pro- Y vision of mounting means for securing a plurality of electrical assemblies in row alignment without the heretofore necessary time consuming steps of drilling, tapping and permanently mounting individual assemblies.

A still further and important object of this invention lies in the provision of a channelled rail having guide lips formed therealong for maintaining a plurality of assemblies in an aligned position.

Yet another object of the invention resides in the provision of means for resiliently and detachably connecting such assemblies to such channelled rails at any point along their lengths as desired.

These and other objects of the invention will become apparent from time to time as the following specication proceeds and with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIGURE l is a front elevational view of a mounting assembly constructed in accordance with the principles of this invention and showing an electrical relay in a mounted position;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken along lines II-II of FIGURE l;

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of a resilient clip of the type used for mounting objects on the channelled rail; and

FGURE 4 is a side elevational view of the mounting rail shown in FIGURE l with the mounting relay depending therefrom.

A channel rail 10 has a substantially flat bed l1 upon which an electrical relay 12 is mounted. The rail 16 has upstanding lips 13 formed integrally therewith and extending along the longitudinal edges of the rail on opposite sides of the bed 11 which serve to keep the relay 12 positioned on the rail. The lips 13 are preferably spaced apart a distance approximately equal to the width of the relay 12.

The rail 10 is formed of a plastic material and can be extruded in a well-known manner. Elongated slots 14 are formed within the sides of the rail 10 `and serve to reduce the thickness of the wall of the raid adjacent its It will be observed that the relay 12 has an outwardly extending ange or lug 15 formed on each side thereof having an upper surface 16 lying between a pair of upstanding integral side Walls 17. A bore 18 is formed within each of the lugs or anges 15 and is adapted to receive the shank of a screw conventionally used to mount the relay in position.

The base 19 of the rail 1G is spaced below the plane of the bed 11 and has a plurality of spaced elongated slots 20 formed therein and has an upstanding elongated rib 21 formed integrally therewith and extending the full length of the rail. The rib 21 serves to give added rigidity to the structure and has an upper surface 22 which is substantially coplanar with the surface of the bed 11. The upper surface 22 of the rib 21 thus also serves as a support or bed for receiving objects to be detachably connected to the rail.

Headed screws 23 extend through the slots 20 and into the wall 24 and serve to rigidly mount the rail 10 on the wall 24.

A pair of channels 25 are formed within the rail 10 on the under surface 26 thereof and these channels run the length of the rail in parallel spaced relation.

The channels 25 have outer walls 27 which extend upwardly rather abruptly from the plane of the wall 24 and have less abrupt residing inner walls 28 which lead back to the interface between the wall 24 and the undersurface 2o of the rail 10.

Resilient metal clips 29 cooperate with the channels 25 and serve to detachably connect the relay 12 to the rail 1t). The clips 29 are formed from a generally at piece of resilient or spring steel and have a finger 30 and a leg 31 bent outwardly in the same direction from the plane of an upstanding center section 32. The iinger 30 has a tab 33 bent backwardly therefrom for a purpose which will hereafter become apparent.

The leg 31 is designed to be forced between the under- Vsurface 26 of the rail 10 and the wall 24 and has barbs 35 bent upwardly from the plane of the leg 31 in the direction of the upstanding section 32 so that abutment of the barbs 35 with the outermost wall 37 of the channel 25 will maintain the clip 29 in its mounted position and prevent the leg 31 from slipping out from between the rail 1@ and the wall 24.

It should also be understood that the rail is formed of somewhat tiexible material and that, due to the central positioning of the mounting screws 23, the longitudinal edges of the rail will bow upwardly from the longitudinal center axis of the rail upon insertion of a clip thereunder. In fact, removal of a clip from its mounted position is readily effected by inserting an instrument (a screw driver for instance) beneath the longitudinal edge of the rail and prying it up suiiiciently to permit the barbed end of the clip to slide therepast.

The finger 3G is designed to extend over the ange or leg 15 of the relay 12 to positively grip the same and maintain it in its mounted position on the rail. To this end, the leg 31 and the linger 30 are each bent inwardly at an acute angle with respect to the main section 32 when the clip 29 is in an unstressed condition.

Recess 34 is formed in the finger 30 in a manner such that the hump will overlie the bore 18 in the lug 15. The bent-back tab 33 facilitates spreading the clip 29 over the lug 15 and prevents the finger 30 catching on the side wall of the lug'15. Y

It will be understood that it is important that the wall 27 be relatively close to the vertical inasmuch as this wall of the channel 25 constitutes the barb-contacting surface.

It is also important that the spring clip 29 be formed of a resilient material because the barbs 35 must move into a coplanar position with the leg 31 While the clip is being inserted between wall 24 and rail 10 and must then snap back to the position shown in FIGURE 2.

It will be Iunderstoodthat we have used this embodiment of the invention for illustrative purposes only and that the rail and clip have general utility in mounting objects in row alignment in a detachable fashion and that other modifications and variations of the invention may be effected without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the novel concepts thereof.

We claim as our invention:

1. An object mounting assembly comprising:

an elongated rail having a substantially flat object supporting bed,

means mounting said rail on a support,

a channel groove formed at the rail-support interface, a clip having an element engageable with the object on the bed and having a leg insertable between the said rail and the support,

and an element broken out from the said leg and contained within said groove and engageable with a wall of said groove,

whereby said clip is prevented from being removed from between said rail and support and serves by engagement with the'object to maintain the object in a lixed positiony on the support.

2. An object mounting assembly comprising:

an elongated rail having a substantially llat object supporting bed,

means mounting said rail on a support,

a channel groove formed within said rail at the rail support interface,

a clip having a nger extending over and engageable with a portion of the object on the bed and having a leg insertable between the said rail and the support, and

an element broken out from the said leg and contained within said groove and engageable with a wall of said groove,

whereby said clip is prevented from being removed from between said rail and said support and said clip maintains the object in a fixed position on said rail.

3, An object supporting assembly constructed in accordance with claim 1 wherein said clip is formed of a resilient material.

4. An object mounting assembly constructed in accordance with claim 2 wherein said clip is formed of a resilient material and wherein said element comprises a barb broken out from the surface of said leg.

5. An object mounting assembly comprising:

an elongated rail having a substantially at object supporting bed and having an elongated clip extending upwardly from said bed along each longitudinal edge of said rail,

means mounting said rail on a support,

a channel groove formed at the rail supporting interface,

a clip having an element engageable with the object on the bed and having a leg insertable between said rail and the support, and

element broken out from the said leg and contained within said groove and engageable with the wall of said groove,

whereby said clip is prevented from being removed from between said rail and said support and engagement of said clip with said object serves to maintain the object in a xed position on the said rail.

6. An object mounting assembly comprising:

an elongated rail having a substantially flat object supporting bed,

a lip formed integrally with the said rail and extending upwardly from the bed along each longitudinal edge of said rail,

channel grooves formed at the rail-support interface along each longitudinal edge of the said rail,

means extending through the said rail between the said channel grooves and mounting said rail on a support,

a clip having an element engageable with the object on the bed and having a leg insertable between the said rail and the support,

and an element broken out from the said leg and contained within said groove and engageable with a wall of said groove,

whereby said clip is prevented from being removed from between said rail and support and serves by engagement with the object to maintain the object in a xed position on the support.

7. An object mounting assembly constructed in accordance with claim 6 wherein said clip is formed of a resilient material and said element comprises a barb broken out from the surface of said leg.

8. An object mounting assembly constructed in accordance with claim 6 wherein said grooves are formed within said rail.

9. An object mounting assembly comprising:

an elongated rail having a substantially iat object supporting bed,

upstanding lips formed integrally with the said rail along each longitudinal edge thereof,

wherein said rail is formed of a resilient material and said lips are spaced apart a distance slightly less than the width of the object to be supported when said lips are in an unstressed condition,

channel grooves formed at the rail-support interface along each longitudinal edgepof the said rail,

means extending through the said rail between the said channel grooves and mounting said rail on a support,

a clip having an element engageable with the object on the bed and having a leg insertable between the said rail and the support,

and an element broken out from the said leg and contained within said groove and engageable with a Wall of said groove,

whereby said clip is prevented from being removed from between said rail and support and serves by engagement with the object to maintain the object in a fixedvposition on the support.

l0. An object mounting assembly constructed in accordance with claim 9 wherein said clip is formed of a resilient material and said element comprises a barb broken out from the surface of said leg.

1l. An object supporting assembly for maintaining an object in a xed position on a dat support comprising:

an elongated rail rigidly aixed to the at support and carrying the object to be supported,

said rail having an unsecured edge lying in juxtaposition to said support and having a channel groove formed therein on the under surface thereof adjacent said unsecured edge,

a resilient clip having a nger overlying a portion at least of the object to be supported and having a leg underlying the unsecured edge of said rail,

and a resilient barb bent away from said leg within said groove and facing toward said unsecured edge and engageable with said rail to maintain said clip in its mounted position on said rail.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Blanchet Feb. 13, 1962 

1. AN OBJECT MOUNTING ASSEMBLY COMPRISING: AN ELONGATED RAIL HAVING A SUBSTANTIALLY FLAT OBJECT SUPPORTING BED, MEANS MOUNTING SAID RAIL ON A SUPPORT, A CHANNEL GROOVE FORMED AT THE RAIL-SUPPORT INTERFACE, A CLIP HAVING AN ELEMENT ENGAGEABLE WITH THE OBJECT ON THE BED AND HAVING A LEG INSERTABLE BETWEEN THE SAID RAIL AND THE SUPPORT, AND AN ELEMENT BROKEN OUT FROM THE SAID LEG AND CONTAINED WITHIN SAID GROOVE AND ENGAGEABLE WITH A WALL OF SAID GROOVE, WHEREBY SAID CLIP IS PREVENTED FROM BEING REMOVED FROM BETWEEN SAID RAIL AND SUPPORT AND SERVES BY ENGAGEMENT WITH THE OBJECT TO MAINTAIN THE OBJECT IN A FIXED POSITION ON THE SUPPORT. 